Alachua County Closer to Opening Protected Land to Hunting

GAINESVILLE - Alachua County is one step closer towards allowing recreational hunting on some of the county's protected land, as commissioners approved moving forward with its Hunting Business Plan.

During Tuesday night's meeting, officials from the county's land conservation program, known as Alachua County Forever, outlined which county-owned properties they think would be best suited to allow hunting. The properties up for consideration are all owned by the county as part of the Forever program, as well as the Wild Spaces Public Places program.

The plan, as presented to commissioners, would free up close to 8,000 acres of land for recreational hunting, which covers animals such as turkey and deer.

Officials from Alachua County Forever say they will work closely with the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to make sure ecosystems are not damaged when land is opened up for hunting.

Now that the entire business plan has been approved, individual plans for each property will now be drafted, and each must be approved by the commission before any hunting can begin.